Helena Adkins Adkins 1 ENG 0990 Mr. Walter 18 July 2014 I am a Genius Throughout my life there have been many people who gave me tons of inspiration. I believe that there was only one main person who made an extremely big impact on my life but I didn’t realize it until the two thousand fourteen school year was over. This person was tall, female, African American, strict, and my English teacher for my ninth grade school year. She may have been strict, mean, and outspoken but she has taught not just me but many people very important life lessons. In the beginning when I first met her she was very harsh and crucial. She wanted everything done then and there. She looked very professional every day of the week. She wore nicely ironed suits and skirts. She always had her makeup done perfectly. When I first met her I didn’t have any nice feelings words her. I thought she was to mean and pushed me too far. All that change about one month into the second quarter of the school year. One day I was in her class crying. I was upset about what had happened to my little cousins. They had been taken away be social services for about two or three years now. I just could control my emotions anymore. I didn’t do any work and just had my head down for her entire class. She called on me to answer a question but I refused. She then pulled me out of class next period and asked why Adkins 2 Was I so upset? I told her my whole situation. This was the first time she had given me a valuable life lesson. She said “some things in life you can’t fix doll, live life now. At least you know they are doing well where they’re at now and are happy.” This gave me a lot of courage to pick myself back up and go on throughout the day with a smile on my face. Almost each and every day Ms. Johnson gave me inspirational advice. She all ways told us Even day we would read an inspirational poem called I am a Genius. The whole class would yell “I am a genius, I can do anything, if my mind believes it, I can achieve it, I will thrive, I will strive, because I believe, I believe in me!” If we didn’t yell this loud enough she would make us say it again. We did this each and every day. I believe she did this so that she can get us to believe in ourselves and not just other people who believe in us. She would push us to our limits, making us do things we have never done before. We didn’t just learn English, we learned about Romeo and Juliet, we learned history, and we learned shakesphere in her class. She was very tuff on us with her grading. When she said you have to earn an "A' she actually meant it. For the first semester, I received two "B's" in her class. She gave us one final project that was worth five hundred points towards our grade. I really needed these points so I went all out. She let us work with partners on this project. The partner I choose was my best friend She'Antay Crockett. She wasn’t in the same class as me but we both had her as a teacher. Ms. Johnson new that we were best friends, so she made an exception. She gave us two weeks to do this project. Our project was on the Holocaust. We created a 3-D model of a concentration camp and a poster board that described everything that we had going on in our model. She was absolutely amazed. She told us we would definitely goes somewhere in life. She gave us not one but two "A's" on this project. Adkins 3 She always gave good advice on life. Every Friday on school days in her class all we would do is talk about life relationships and self-confidence. Sometimes she would teach us proper elegance for important meetings and occasions. She even taught us how to react and answer questions when we get a job interview someday. She told us the rights and wrongs about a relationship, and how two people are supposed to treat each other. When I first got notified that I had an interview to get into high tech academy the first person I came to as her. She told me to always keep a smile on my face, think before I answer the questions that are being asked, and dress in appropriate clothing, and to be confident about myself. During my lunch time I would get my lunch and go directly her class. We would practice doing little interviews to build up my confidence. She gave me a lot of courage to try my hardest to get into this amazing program. When I got my acceptance letter I nearly started crying. The first person I told was Ms. Johnson. She started crying for me saying "I’m so proud of you. You tried your hardest and anted this opportunity and you got it. Congratulations’ Helena!" My inspirational figure I look up to is Ms. A.V Johnson, my ninth grade English teacher. She has helped me through bad situations. She has helped me strive for want I believe in and want. She helped me achieve this goal of getting into High Tech Academy. She made a big impact on my life making me view it in a whole new perspective. This woman is now a big part of my life and I am thrilled it got to have her as a teacher because if I didn’t, I never would have gotten into high tech academy. She is my inspiration |